Projects and Partnerships

Ormiston Who Am I?

Who Am I? was developed by Ormiston Families’ Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) Service in partnership with Safe Ground, for work with probation service users in the community and in custody. Safe Ground have been involved in the training of our family support workers to facilitate the programmes and will play an ongoing role in quality assurance of the programme.

Main objectives

To explore attitudes and values

To develop self-awareness

To reflect upon family / social networks

To recognise how behaviour can affect the lives of close family and friends

Who Am I? is an arts based, group work intervention, using creative exercises to support service users to try new things, speak up, take risks and perform. Referral to the programme usually made within the broader context of referral for ‘family support intervention’. In addition, the participants are likely to present needs in relation to: relationships, contact with children, or parenting.

The programme is carefully structured and clearly focused around individual, personal and inter-personal skills development, enabling and encouraging participants to increase their awareness of their own behaviours, attitudes and values. The number of participants ranges from four to twelve, taking place over five, two hour sessions, which can be completed over several weeks or intensively over consecutive days. This is sandwiched between two one-to-one family support worker sessions: initial assessment and goals planning session.

Brinsford YOI – Pilot Parenting Project

Safe Ground was funded by NOMS to undertake a ground-breaking Pilot Parenting Programme aimed at Young Fathers at Brinsford YOI. Sallyann Ploughman from Staffordshire County Council worked with Safe Ground to develop the programme with the support of Brinsford YOI.

The project worked directly with young fathers on a structured one-to-one basis an intensive two week group programme. At the same time facilitators worked simultaneously with the young fathers families in the community and upon their release back into the community. The project worked with local authorities to meet local agendas as part of the BRFC initiative.

The aim of the project:

Build strong family links and foundations

Promote stability for young fathers

Increase resiliency and self-motivation

Build a network of multi-agency support for offenders and their families

Aid prospects

Reduce re-offending and prevent generational offending

Looked After Children

In January 2016, Executive Director of Safe Ground, Charlotte Weinberg, facilitated a five-day programme for young men in HMP Brinsford as a part of the Pilot Parenting Project. The group members all had experience of having been looked after in care, with some of the group being fathers. The group worked together to produce a presentation titled ‘Ambitions of Life’, which used drama techniques to discuss the paths their lives had taken, and the emotions they felt. Charlotte will be delivering a workshop on this programme at the HMPPS & Catch 22 Conference ‘Working with Key Partners to Improve Outcomes for Care Leavers’ on 16th October 2017.

Sallyann Ploughman continue to carry out complex family work.

One Plus One: Virtual Campus

Safe Ground was commissioned by One Plus One to develop a parenting module for the Virtual Campus (VC), a secure online learning tool used in prisons across the country.

The project was a part of a NOMS-funded grant to pilot the inclusion of relationships and parenting education on the VC.

Safe Ground was approached by One Plus One to work on the project due to our track record of designing high quality relationships education for men in prison.

The project was undertaken by Safe Ground freelancer Ali Jones-Moran, who identified key content and learning from Fathers Inside and created bespoke activities suitable for the VC medium.

Programmes & Services

“After the first day of the course one prisoner mentioned that his ‘mask has come off’ – describing how on the wing you have to keep a mask on and stay defended, but in this group space, that mask came off and he felt able to be himself”

Tutor, HMP Pentonville

Our story so far...

1993

1993 – 1996

Safe Ground is founded by Antonia Rubinstein and Polly Freeman in 1993, then established as a charity in 1995.

1997 – 1999

Men in prison at HMP Woodhill create a drugs prevention video ‘Ryan’s Choice’ for year 6 school children (1997/98)

‘Parents for the 21st Century’ collaboration with the prison service begins in 1999. This helps absent fathers, whom are in prison, learn how they can improve their parenting skills for children aged 6 to 12.

2000 – 2003

Film ‘Blinda’ is created by men in prison at HMP Wandsworth – the story concerns Frank, who is serving a 3-year sentence and has cut off all communication with his 8-year-old son Wayne.

‘Blinda’ wins an International Visual Communication Award in 2001.

Family Man launches at HMP Wandsworth in early 2003.

2004 – 2006

Family Man and Fathers Inside are firmly established, raising the profile of parenting and family relationships in prisons.

2016

Safe Ground turns 21! An Open House event is held for the public to learn more about the organisation’s history

‘MOVING. HOME.’ Symposium is held at the National Theatre, exploring the meaning of ‘home’ with a range of panellists, including Safe Ground alumni and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

A Justice Data Lab analysis finds that Fathers Inside participants are 40% less likely to re-offend than their counterparts.

2017

Safe Ground win the Longford Prize for contribution to penal reform

Officers’ Mess is delivered at HMP Berwyn, with 86% of participants agreeing that the course made them think about how they respond in different situations

2018

The Who Am I? programme in partnership with Ormiston Families’ Transforming Rehabilitation is rolled out in probation sites across the East of England.

Future

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